The marketers say, “Buy this and you’ll belong.” The Master says, “Be this and you’ll belong.”
John 3:7 You should not be surprised at my [Jesus] saying, ‘You must be born again.’
A Very Very Brief Christmas Thought
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The marketers say, “Buy this and you’ll belong.” The Master says, “Be this and you’ll belong.”
John 3:7 You should not be surprised at my [Jesus] saying, ‘You must be born again.’
Doesn’t he kind of say “Belong and you’ll be this?” As in, come follow me and be a part of this community and it will change you.
Well I did almost put “Believe this and you’ll belong.” But that belief DOES lead to something deeper- a new being as seen in the NT languabe…a new creation / adoption as a son and daughter of God / transferred to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, etc.
I didn’t want to stop at believing b/c it is so often taken to be mere mental assent.
b/, Inclusion into the Body of Christ does change us but true inclusion requires us to not just “start attending” but to have our nature changed as part of that belonging…in other words, we don’t get a new nature by communal osmosis as important as community is. No?